We Heart Music

Joe Jackson

Monday, 17 September 2012

Joe Jackson was sending out his demos before being picked up by A&M Records in 1978. The result was the amazing debut album Look Sharp! (1979), featuring his big hit "Is She Really Going Out with Him?"

I know, I know, Joe Jackson's album, The Duke, was released in the Summer, but we never got around to reviewing it. As you can guess, The Duke is a tribute album to Duke Ellington. If that wasn't enough, the album includes these wonderful guest artists: Iggy Pop, Sharon Jones, Regina Carter, ?uestlove, Christian McBride, Steve Vai, and many more.

I'm pretty sure you can hear live rendition of The Duke when you see Joe Jackson on tour:

Michael Jackson's THIS IS IT will offer Jackson fans and music lovers worldwide a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the performer as he developed, created and rehearsed for his sold-out concerts that would have taken place beginning this summer in London's O2 Arena.

Coming tomorrow, September 18th, is Michael Jackson's Bad 25. Yes, it is the 25th Anniversary of Bad, and it's the perfect way of remembering MJ. In many ways, although Off the Wall launched his solo career and Thriller solidified Jackson as the best-selling album of all time… Bad was the album that people remember MJ's distinctive "Bad" style. You must have remembered the black leather and zippers?

Like many of you, I already have Bad (I picked it up on cassette at a flea market), so upgrading to a remastered deluxe edition is a no-brainer. Hardcore fans will likely pick up the the 3 CD/1 DVD boxset, which includes two collectible booklets full of unseen photographs from the Bad era, and DVD of the full concert from Wembley Stadium in London. The DVD is from MJ's personal VHS copy, which is the only known copy of the show.

CD 1 is the remastered album, CD 2 is full of unreleased material/early demos and remixes. CD3 is the audio from the DVD.

If the boxset is too costly, you can pick up the Wembley concert as a standalone DVD release.

Portland-based pianist/singer-songwriter Sara Jackson-Holman's sophomore album, Cardiology, is out now via Expunged Records. The album's first single is called "Come By Fire," which you can see on youtube.

Learning the mistakes and the process for recording the first album, Jackson-Holman had this new perspective about the second album, "For Cardiology, I actually produced full, 30-track demo versions at home for several of the songs on Garageband before bringing the tracks to the studio for final beats, synth sounds, and additional production. I wrote the songs in varied ways - some originated from sitting at the piano, others from humming a melody, and still more from writing a beat first then crafting the rest of the song around it. From my first day in the studio to my last, the recording process spanned seven months."

Tito Jackson's daughter and the niece of megastar Michael Jackson, Tanay Jackson is heading into the family business of music performance. Her latest release is called "Honey," and you can see it on YouTube.

I've always liked Jackson Browne, but probably not enough to shell out money. I did enter to win two tickets to see him at the State Theatre in Minneapolis on October 28, but I never win these things. If you want to try for yourself, head to citypages.com

Shelby Lynne - Just a Little Lovin'There's a few country albums released today, but since I don't have Willie Nelson's A Moment of Forever, I'm just going to talk about Grammy-Winner Shelby Lynne's Just a Little Lovin'.

Her 10th album is an all Dusty Springfield cover album. I take it back, there is one original song on here, it's called "Pretend". This song is written by Shelby Lynne and is mostly acoustic... in the same vein as her Dusty covers.

I love the album artwork, I think it may have been inspired by the live album Dusty in Memphis.

If you get the Best Buy digipack version as it comes with a bonus DVD with two live songs.

Louis XIV - Slick Dogs and PoniesThe only thing I know about Louis XIV is that all their songs are about drugs and sex. Right?

I'm glad to see that their latest release does not feature old porno images, instead you get darken green pictures of the band (I think).

Anyway, according to wikipedia: There's a Traitor in This Room is the lead single for the album, but I couldn't find evidence of this anywhere. It's not even available on the US iTunes store. By all accounts, it looks like Guilt by Association is the single.

Joe Jackson - RainDon't forget that the CD/DVD combo album Rain by Joe Jackson is released today! It looks like I may have to review the album as Ryan is computerless.

Besides from from the awesome DVD (please see my review), the album is reminiscence of his popular Night and Day album. Joe Jackson returns to his piano-driven music, which I'm calling the Joe Jackson Trio (all jazz trios are named after their pianist).

Listening to the album, I was drawn to "Rush Across The Road", a song about seeing a complete stranger and wanting to rush over to her to get to know her. It's very easy-listening reminds me of a more optimistic version of the very bitter Positively 4th Street.

Jackson's ability to tell stories in short pop/jazz songs can also be heard on "Invisible Man" which I think is about a famous person slowly fading into obscurity.

Friday, 11 January 2008

The new album "RAIN" Includes CD and bonus DVD UK Release Date: January 28, 2008 US Release Dat...

Joe Jackson was sending out his demos before being
picked up by A&M Records in 1978. The result was the amazing debut
album Look Sharp! (1979), featuring his big hit "Is She Really Going Out with Him?"

In this article am going to talk about some of my favorite Joe Jackson
songs, only because he has a new album coming out in a few weeks. A
full review will be done by Ryan later (keep your eyes peeled for
that).

"Steppin'
Out" is one of Jackson's best-known songs. If you don't think you know
this song - trust me: YOU KNOW THIS SONG. It's from his best-selling
and critically acclaimed album Night and Day (1982).

He didn't actually cover the Cole Porter's song (see Jason's article: Night and Day), this album is kind of in the tone of Porter's style.

Although
this album is more piano-driven, all of Jackson's lyrics are still
there: "You dress in pink and blue/Just like a child/And in a yellow
taxi turn to me and smile/We'll be there in just a while/If you follow
me..."

Embarrassingly enough, for the longest time, I have always thought
"Steppin' Out" was a Hall & Oates song - especially with the
xylophone.

The song, "Look Sharp!", was never released as a single, but I am in love with this wonderful New Wave/Rock sound.

Check out that rebellious punky lyrics:

Okay, what you say
Tell me what they're wearing this year
Go on and laugh at me 'cause you don't see
That I got something going right here
Say I'm just a dreamer
Say I'm just a kid
Well ace, shut your face
Maybe you will see or hear

I gotta say, "wow"! The song is saying to the world, hey you may not
see much in me but the new kid in town is going to show you something.

So,
obviously, I am a fan of Joe Jackson's 80s releases. To be honest, I
haven't heard much from Joe Jackson until he resurfaced on my radar on
William Shatner's Has Been
(2003). I am sure all W♥M readers already have a copy of this CD. It's
certainly one of my favorite cover song, and I am almost certain that
Joe Jackson was the driving force behind getting Pulp's song covered.

Which brings me to 2008, Joe Jackson has a new album coming out in a few weeks called Rain.
Since the album is already being reviewed, I won't spend too
much time on audio portion (although I can tell you it's certainly
piano-driven just like Night and Day). I'll be focusing on the DVD portion of Rain.

You get about 20 minutes of live concert with three songs ("Invisible
Man", "Wasted Time", and "Good Bad Boy") recorded at the Islington
Academy in London (24th May 2007). The concert footage is excellent and
very professional.

There's some interviews (conducted with Alan Bangs), which I thought seemed awkward.

The best part of the DVD is the Joe's guide to Berlin! This is just
great, whoever thought of this idea should get extra points.

I'm only showing you an excerpt of Joe talking about the Wall of Berlin and his insight on the whole thing.

I don't know if the bonus DVD will be available on future pressing of Rain,
but looking at the retail price (about $16), it's a very good price for
CD/DVD combo. The more common prices I've seen for CD/DVD combos are
about $20.

By the way, there is a limited edition (signed and numbered by Jackson) - but it is already sold out.

Expect Jackson to go on tour shortly after the album's release on Ryko Disc in the UK (Jan 28th) and US (Jan 29th). They've already announced the password for his concert presale (the password is Davidian).

2015:
Since Select Magazine went away in 2000, Uncut Magazine took over as my favorite music magazine. In their latest issue, which came out in the stores in the UK this week (January 27th), they featured the 30th Anniversary of Meat is Murder with a The Smiths cover.